One-piece blades in stators are known. Two-piece stator blades also are known, for example, as described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2004/0237516 A1 (Shin). Unfortunately, the blade segments in Shin are radially separated. That is, one segment is connected to an outer circumference of the stator and the other segment is connected to an inner circumference of the stator. Thus, any manipulation of fluid flow through the blades is substantially limited to flow along radial planes.
Thus, there is a long-felt need for a stator having blades with axial segments.